DOOM: Closed BETA Reaction

Over the weekend I had the amazing opportunity to play the highly anticipated DOOM Closed Beta. When I heard the Closed Beta was released I was ecstatic, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the game. The Closed Beta was only a small section of multiplayer that included two maps and two modes which is not a lot of variety, but on the bright side it had a ton of weapons, customization, and arena style action.

So right off the bat the game looks stunning! There is a crisp edge to all the textures that really makes it feel like you are in a futuristic version of hell. While playing my first match I instantly noticed the gameplay is ultra fast paced, clean, and also ridiculously simplistic. There are no reload animations so the game forces you to keep moving in search of ammo drops, as well as armor, and health packs around the maps. Having pick ups brings the game back to its roots and pushes the player to solely focus on the action. DOOM’s multiplayer is the ultimate remake of the classic arena styled gameplay from the original.

A new power up in the Beta was the Demon Rune which turns you into a demonic character with insanely strong abilities. The Beta only allows for players to become the “Revenant” (which is the decomposing skeleton with a pair of rocket launchers on his shoulders). Being the “Revenant” was crazy fun but after a while I realized it was extremely over powered. You can splatter your enemies with just one shot, and could easily rack up double kills as shown in my gameplay video below.

Next I noticed the handling of the guns felt fluid and ultra satisfying. My favorites being the sawed off shotgun and gauss cannon which was a complete monster. In my opinion though, nothing beat the thrill of getting multiple kills with the shotgun. Some of the other weapons in the game were completely new and some were remakes of the originals but they have all been revamped with amazing detail. The game also has a huge amount of customization options for EVERYTHING.

Your marine or “doom guy” could be fully customized with different parts like helmets, leg armor, and shoulder plates. You can also add different colors and patterns for those armor parts. Each weapon you unlock can be aesthetically customized to fit your style which is an amazing feature since this make your weapons feel personal. You can add up to 2 patterns on any weapon and change their colors and also add details such as dirt and scratches. You can make your armor and weapons look as old and dusty as you want, or as fresh and new as you want.

The DOOM Closed Beta was an intense chunk of hardcore gore filled old school action with new school flare. The gameplay was smooth and clean overall and quite frankly just plain fun. Because of its old school mechanics, it took some time to adjust to not reloading and finding armor and ammo which brought me back the original. While playing I actually felt that I was conditioned to playing modern shooters, which was very strange. I am so used to pressing a button to reload my weapons and taking cover to regain health, that I had to focus on the old school gameplay which was simply refreshing. My major gripe with the game at this point was simply the multiplayer announcer (his tone just did not fit well with the theme of the game or the intensity of the action) – and a few inconsistencies with some weapon damage. Other then this, DOOM’s multiplayer is looking to bring back first person shooting to its roots which is something that I had no idea I really wanted, until now.